Back to normal... whatever that is

Over the last 20 days I have been so busy I thought I was going to fall over from exhaustion. We finished painting, now there are only little things that need to be replaced or added. I spent 3 days getting ready to go camping.

On June 18th we picked up Mathew in Redding and headed up to Oregon. We went to a small lake called Lake of the Woods about 30 miles west of Klamath Falls. We arrived at near dark. It was dark by the time the truck was unloaded. As I set up the "kitchen", I discovered that our new little camping stove didn't have an adapter to fit the 5 gal. propane tank (that I had asked Rob to check long before we ever left...). Well, improvise! Fire. Hot dogs. Marshmallow sticks. Dinner! The kids thought that was pretty fun roasting their hot dogs over the fire. Good! Fun is good.

We made a run into Klamath Falls that was a true comedy of errors right from the start. We got within 1/2 mile of the Wal-Mart that we had been looking for 3 times. We finally got there and got the little propane tanks that we needed for cooking. Back to the campsite.

Our campsite was really beautiful, right next to the lake. The only thing wrong with this beautiful spot was that it was rip-stinking cold! Kookie was not happy on this trip at all. She is a So Cal dog living in No Cal. She wanted to stay in the back seat of the truck, so we let her. Each of the kids took turns getting in and loving on her. It's different camping without Mo Mutt.

After dinner, we discovered what a smarshmallow monster looks like. Mathew went to town burning and eating marshmallows faster that anyone I had ever seen before.

It rained a bit during the night, so we decided that we were just going to forgo the cold wind and possible more rain for a bit more warmth in California. We packed it up and headed to Lake Almanor. Much warmer and the campground had showers! Yay! Vivian and I were DYING to get a shower.

This campsite was really nice as well. Even though it was in closer proximity to the water, there was a campsite between us and it. We still enjoyed it though. The kids got to go fishing for a bit, but didn't catch anything. They rode bikes and Mathew made lots of new friends.

We spent 2 days at North Shore campground, then headed home. We got home on Tuesday and my parents arrived on Wednesday. I was still mopping the kitchen when they arrived. It was a nice visit, but seemed to last forever! We attended an anniversary party for my cousins Jim and Diane in San Andreas on Saturday and they left on Monday (yesterday). It is now Tuesday afternoon and after a nap, I feel like I might finally get back to normal ... whatever that is.

In the last few days, much has happened with our feral cat colony. We lost 1 very small white baby and gained 3 bigger ones; 1 pretty little red one and 2 pinkish colored ones. We have one that is so small and precious that Vivian has a hard time leaving him outside because he is the littlest one we have at only 4 weeks. He is our little red Fox. We have been working very hard to get this round of babies hand-tame. We have also gotten an added bonus, the mama's are becoming more trusting. That will make the trapping and "fixing" easier ... I hope.

My new camera came today! I thought I would share what we are doing this week.

Trevor and Vivian (Rob's kids) are here, but the "boys bedroom" needed to be painted. I had already done a coat of white on the walls to cover the dark blue, but the ceiling needed a coat. Once that was done, we decided we were on a roll and started on the hall. That only got about 1/2 done before I bumped into the wall and got paint on my butt. It was decided that we should do one wall at a time so that we could at least bump into one wall without the benefit of wearing what we had just put on the wall.

After getting cleaned up, we ran down to Wal-Mart to get a new paint tray (I broke the one we were using) and some other supplies. When we got back, we set off with color. We challenged ourselves with getting the first coat done before Dad got home. We did it! It looks great! I can't wait to get the second coat on tomorrow and then start on the trim. The boys (Mathew and Trevor) decided that they want a mural of a monkey in the window of a hut on the wall. It's really cute. From there, I get to chose the rest. I'm really pleased that this project is going so fast and is much more fun than doing my bathroom. It's been almost 2 months and I'm STILL working on the bathroom.

Speaking of my bathroom, I had a "honey-do" list for Rob when he got home. I painted the baseboards around where the toilet goes (yes, I painted my bathroom yellow as well, but it is a different color yellow) so that he could put it back in tonight. He put up the new light fixture, but there was a bolt issue with the toilet so that will have to wait until tomorrow. Oh well...